Oh, How Nothing Changes
by The Emchantress
Summary: Hiccup had been gone for years, simply vanished from our little village in the dead of night. Now four years later he returns, what awaits him upon his arrival and what exactly has changed in the time he's been away. Slight change in the time frame, set before HTTYD2.


**Okay greetings everyone, glad you could tune in and read the first chapter of this story, I'm not going to go on and on about irrelevant things so on with the story.**

 **Although first I should say I own nothing apart from the general storyline and a few of the characters mentioned in the story.**

 **Anyways now we can go to the story. Hope you all enjoy it.**

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To say nothing had changed would be the biggest understatement of the century, everything had changed for the better of course, it was just nothing had changed recently.

After the defeat of the Red Death it seemed the entire village was in flux, everyone had things to build or repair, people had new jobs to do and of course there was the training of the dragons and the people who were to ride said dragons.

Everyone was busy for the longest time but no one more than Hiccup.

Every time anyone saw him it seemed like only a second before he was off again muttering under his breath about various things that had to be done.

It wasn't a strange sight to see him trying to maintain peace between dragon and rider when things would go amiss, and it certainly wasn't odd to see a flaming dragon with a rider wielding a weapon and Hiccup in between trying to calm them both down.

The village was finally peaking, coming up fast upon its glory days and no one was more shocked or proud of Hiccup than his father.

Stoick only once said he was proud of Hiccup, the day he awoke after the incident with the Red Death but even so everyone could see it in his eyes whenever he or anyone else spoke of his son.

A person with experience regarding the chief would have been able to see it in his walk as well, he held his head higher, his steps were more purposeful and the gleam in his eyes spoke volumes of how much he thought of his son and his accomplishments.

Everyone was always so busy that rarely did anyone stop and watch the 'hero' of our village.

I mean sure they all watched him as he worked, how could you not when the very act of taming dragons was a feat upon itself, but no one fully saw Hiccup.

I noticed it a few months after the incident when the village was half way to repaired and upgraded, everyone had been working or partying in triumph for week's non-stop, there were currently two modes a person could be in.

Awake or asleep. Hiccup seemed to be in neither.

He would work all day at the academy or in the forge, stopping only to help those in need or the dragons who required assistance so it would stand to reason that he would be the most tired of all of us.

Yet he never slept.

I noticed he would retreat to his home after eating with the rest of us in the dining hall with the excuse he was 'tired and needed some rest for tomorrow' and no one ever questioned it because why would they?

Yet not even an hour later he was seen crawling out of his window in the dead of night and trailing up the hill towards the cliffs.

I trailed him one night curious to see what he was up to, it wasn't creepy just a morbid curiosity of something I didn't understand. The last time he was so secretive I found out he was harbouring a night fury.

Yet every time I trailed him I found no other dragon, no secret in which would be accidently discovered just a boy of barely 15 staring wistfully out over the cliffs into the foggy darkness surrounding our island.

It began slowly at first, my interest in Hiccup's attitude, I wouldn't call it an obsession though it very nearly bordered on one.

It wasn't intentional just whenever I saw Hiccup my eyes would gravitate towards him and then I started noticing things, odd things about him that upset me and for good reason.

I realised that no matter what he was doing or what situation he found himself in his eyes would always drift towards the horizon just over the cliffs.

It took me many moons to figure out the expression I saw in his eyes every time he looked towards the sky and the ocean and when I did I was floored for days.

In his eyes, etched ever so slightly into his face, was a look I knew well a look he used to direct towards me growing up and into our adolescence, a look of longing and a yearning for something.

It bothered me for days, weeks even after that not because of the obvious but because I couldn't remember the last time that look had been directed at me.

He still spoke to everyone normally albeit a little awkward but that was to be expected from years of basic solitude only to be thrust into 'hero' status, and because of this no one really noticed the change.

It was subtle, like the shift in the breeze on a hot summer's day, you don't notice at first because you're so consumed by the heat but then you notice the coolness creep in as the heat leaves your skin and the day becomes bearable.

You think that's the last of it and you take no notice as the temperature keeps dropping until your teeth are chattering and your lips are blue, you think the change came quickly and you can't imagine what you had done to deserve such a change only you never realised that you had plenty of time to grab a jacket you just weren't paying attention.

Like everything though life got in the way and Hiccup's strange behaviour fell to the back of my mind in place of more important things like the whole hardship we faced with Alvin and the Berserker tribe, especially the nut Dagger who took more than a normal liking towards Hiccup.

Before anyone knew a year had passed since the Red Death and to most it felt like a blink though to me it felt like a century. Between everything that had happened and continued to happen the year couldn't be over fast enough.

It was many months into the New Year before Dagger was put away and the village and Hiccup especially could relax. The village rejoiced and parties were held every night for the better part of a week for Hiccup and the rest of us, I don't think anyone realised that Hiccup slipped away within an hour of the festivities beginning.

I found him were I always did on the cliffs facing the ocean same longing present in his eyes yet this time there was more, or less depending on how one looks at it.

It was hard to look at and to this day remains hard to think about but on that night Hiccup looked as though he had nothing. His eyes portrayed a look so dead that I had to keep myself from calling for someone.

It was the first time I made my presence known to him upon the cliff, yet he didn't jump for I think he always knew I was close by.

"What are you doing here Astrid?"

His voice was barely above a whisper, something shared between him and myself only, it felt intimate but lacked a component crucial to making it anything more than what it was.

I didn't know what to say and honestly never thought of anything better so I tried to offer comfort yet as I stepped forward a branch broke under my foot, the _snap_ reverberating off the trees and back to our ears sounding far louder in the silence of the night.

I sucked in a breath as I lifted my foot trying desperately not to intrude on his space more than I already had but the spell was already broken and he was turning away from me both literally and figuratively.

I scrambled for something to say, for once being lost for words and to my shame I all but shouted at him for him to stop and listen to what I had to say.

He complied but my brain had decided to short circuit, his dead stare provided me no comfort.

"Hiccup-"

It was a start yet saying his name under my breath was not a topic point of conversation. I tried again, louder, more assertive in my false confidence which I knew he saw right through.

"Hiccup what's been wrong with you, I… You...-"

My words sputtered out and as I tried to make more sense of what I was trying to say, to tell him what needed to be said but before I could make a second attempt at speech he broke the silence that had descended upon us, his voice barely a whisper but carrying strong against the breeze.

"I'm just tired Astrid, I'm restless and bored and there's nothing here for me anymore, not right now anyways"

My mouth opened and shut several times in succession but no words came out, I wanted to tell him that everyone gets like this and it was okay, I wanted to show him all the good he'd done for the village and everyone in it, I wanted to scream at him that he was important that he mattered and people cared about him but overall I wanted to show him exactly what was here for him, even after all this time yet I did done of it.

He gave me a pained look before turning around again and this time I made no move to stop him.

When I awoke the next morning Hiccup was no were to be found, me and the gang looked everywhere for him going as far out to the sea as we dared to go but we found nothing.

It continued like that for three days until we saw the tell-tale signs that Stoick was back in the dock, Snoutlout and the twins were the first to reach him simply due to them cheating with a head start.

Many hand gestures and out of breath questions later we found out what had happened to Hiccup, Stoick's booming voice slightly subdued as he retold his tale whilst helping unload the ship.

"Hiccup found the ship some three days ago, said he wanted to go exploring before he had to start 'cheifing'",

He inserted air quotes clearly demonstrating it was from Hiccup's own mouth before continuing,

"He promised to check in every now and then and tell me of his journeys so I let him go, poor boy nearly collapsed right then and there"

It was funny because that was how I felt at that very moment, Hiccup was gone, and he just left us, left me without even saying goodbye.

The rest of the gang was just as shocked although they portrayed it in very different levels, Fishlegs in true Fishlegs fashion started running the numbers of Hiccups survival, the twins started coming up with ways Hiccup would return most involving the loss of another limb and Snoutlout started creeping his way towards me murmuring about him being the chief when Hiccup died.

I spent the rest of the afternoon destroying trees in the forest to rid myself of some anger, it didn't work.

The novelty of Hiccup's leaving wore off fairly quickly and life returned to how it was, everyone still busy, still rejoicing. For a while.

A year after Hiccup left everything was fully repaired and upgraded, everyone had a trained dragon that they trusted whole heartedly and everyone had a job to do.

Just like that life slowed down to a snail's pace, something worse than a crawl. Me and the gang took to exploring the surrounding islands and writing down all the new dragons we found there but even the novelty of that ran out and it simply felt like a chore.

Two years past since Hiccup left and the book of dragons was complete, carried everywhere by Fishlegs who used it to relay information to those uninformed. He became a teacher of sorts to the young ones half way through the year teaching them the history of dragons and of Berk.

At this point I had asked Stoick about Hiccup a total of thirty times all to no avail, he would tell me when Hiccup came to the visit but I never saw him, he' come in the dead of night and be gone by morning.

Three years past and I seemed to be the only one not doing anything, Snotlout found a way to use his lack of brain cells by accepting a job from Gobber under the title ' _Official Weapons Tester'_ which basically meant he was the test dummy.

Fishlegs was still teaching though now he taught in the academy and held days in which adults were welcome and encouraged to join in the lessons.

The twins whilst technically not doing anything productive found there calling dedicating their lives to Loki and causing mischief all throughout the island and surrounding islands which gave the fisherman a lot of grief.

It seemed as though life went on for everyone else apart from me. I had nothing.

I tried teaching like Fishlegs but I got annoyed at the little kids too easy, I wasn't dumb enough to do anything for Gobber and the twins were a lost cause. All that was left me for was Stormfly and I couldn't help but make comparisons to myself and Hiccup.

I stopped asking after the fiftieth time because it became clear to me that Hiccup wasn't coming back. Something in Stoick changed after the first six months of Hiccup's 'adventure', and I suspect it was because Hiccup stopped coming home.

It didn't seem fair to ask Stoick of any more than he had to offer and so I went through the motions every day, I took my meals in the dining hall, I travelled between the forge and the academy and still spoke to the gang but it all seemed so forced.

The fourth year came and again nothing changed, the gang had all settled into their roles perfectly and here I was still, nearly twenty with nothing to my name except a dragon that mostly did what I said and words hanging from my tongue four years too late and burning me from the inside out.

So yes saying that nothing had changed would be the biggest understatement of the century but it was just nothing had changed recently.

It had been nearly three years since anything interesting happened and whilst I'm glad the village was calm I was about ready to tear my hair out from boredom.

Though of course fate has a funny way of messing up your plans, though I had none to begin with.

It was a surprisingly warm day when I first heard it, the tell-tale shriek of a certain dragon I'd been dying to hear for the past four years, I instantly looked towards the sky not caring how the sun burned my eyes or how I may had looked stupid.

I heard footsteps behind me and laboured breaths as the gang came into my vision, looking both surprised and excited about the impending arrival.

I grinned so big I feared I may have pulled something but I could care less at this moment, Hiccup had come home.

With near matching grins we all ran as fast as we could towards the town centre were a crowd had already appeared, we split it with ease though and I nearly tripped over when I saw the black scaly mass that was my second favourite dragon.

Toothless looked fairly similar if only a little bigger with what appeared to be a new saddle, the thing that stood out the most though was the rider.

The first thing I noticed was the mask that covered his face, it was fairly basic in design probably not meant for intimidation.

The second thing I noticed was how tall he was as he climbed off of Toothless, he easily towered over everyone in our group even with the prosthetic attached to his left foot.

Even knowing this was Hiccup it was very hard to believe it, especially with him covered in brown and black leather with various buckles attached here and there.

It was a strange outfit even for him but it did help to pronounce the muscles he acquired in the last four years, not overbearing like Snotlouts but gentle with an underlying presence of strength and danger.

When he reached to remove the mask I swear everyone stopped breathing, especially when it was off. The scrawny boy we all knew was long gone, replaced by this being that was just shy of becoming a god among us.

He has lost all the baby fat in his face which gave way to high cheek bones and a defined jaw that was covered in a thin layer of stubble, his lips has filled out and his nose finally fit his face. His face was shadowed by his thick hair that fell in waves just below his shoulder and into his eyes, he obviously needed it cut but somehow the overgrown mop suited him well.

No one said anything for a long time, we just simply stared at him until he acquired a faint pink tinge to his cheeks, just as he opened his mouth to speak a booming voice broke the silence, followed by loud footsteps in its wake.

"Hiccup Horrendous the Third"

Stoicks voice carried over the crowd as we all parted for the fuming chief, surprisingly Hiccup didn't cower as he would have.

"Just where have you been?"

He was still yelling but even Snotlout could tell his anger was masking a deeper running pain.

"Uh-"

My lord his voice was deep, he had lost the nasally after tone and it gave way to a rich, deep gravelly tone that made my very bones vibrate.

"Well I left the Archipelago, I've kind of been island hopping for a while"

He still did the thing with his hands when he got nervous which was endearing to say the least, though it did make his muscles strain against the tight leather of his suit.

"But…but first there's someone I want you to meet"

He looked to the sky and waved down a second dragon that I hadn't noticed before and I nearly kicked myself for the lack of spacial awareness.

The dragon though was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, it was huge and at first look seemed as though it had a completely flat face which wasn't far from the truth, as it descended I thought I saw another set of wings under the main ones but I may have been mistaken.

It was covered in brown scales with the odd blue ones here and there with huge eyes that seemed to look at everyone and no one at the same time.

I could tell the villagers were getting uncomfortable but they eased when Hiccup approached the beast with an extended hand,

"This is Rowan"

He placed his hand on the beast's cheek for only a second before moving his hand behind its head and coming back with another hand, a hand attached to a very female figure.

"And this is Nora"

They stayed holding hands even after she was off the beasts back and I had to admit she was rather pretty, long black hair that was tied up and wearing a dress of all things.

My viewing of her however was disrupted as someone else crawled from behind the dragons head, a mop of brownish red hair popped up from behind the dragon and their eyes lit up to the size of saucers.

The mystery figure was clearly a child of no more than three but that was all I could decipher before the child flung itself from the head of the dragon ignoring the worried yell of the woman and landed in Hiccups arm's a ball of laughing manic energy.

"Anne-Marie what have I told you about jumping from dragons"

It was odd seeing Hiccup scold someone other than the twins and it was even odder that that person was a child who seemed so very at home in his arms.

The child in question simply laughed and rubbed her eyes, clearly she had been asleep before she made the jump, before stopping moving all together.

It was rather funny to watch, the child apparently hadn't known she had an audience and her face flushed a deep pink before she burrowed further into Hiccups chest, a mumbled sound travelling around the group in the silence causing more than one gasp to escape closed lips.

"Daddy who are these people"

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 **Okay so that was the first chapter of this story, hope everyone liked it because it's been on my mind for the longest time.**

 **If anyone is confused about the time frame or anything please feel free to inbox me privately or just write a review I'd be happy to clear up any issues I may have created.**

 **I'm not going to promise weekly updates but I will try and update regularly.**

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated because it lets me know if I'm doing anything wrong or if I'm doing something good.**

 **Anyways thanks for reading chapter one and I hope you all stick around for further chapters.**


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